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Starts and stops with Joe and Fessler IMO. OL could be better which makes running game and QB job tougher, but that’s an incredibly tough position group to fix overnight. Our two higher profile transfers (Blanchard and Kindred) are injured, Landers failed out, but I think we are building that room solid for the future, plus already have a good transfer coming in next season. If Jankowski has no hope of ever playing (which we all seem to know), we shouldn’t be wasting a scholly on him at the most important position in football. Undercuffler is what he is. Bullock is in his 3rd year of D1 FBS football and still has a long way to go. Jennings and Wasel each were pretty solid recruits, but apparently are at least 4th and 5th on the depth chart with no shot at playing . If the entire season was hinged on an injury prone DJ Irons (who I don’t even blame considering the amount of run usage a prototypical Joe Mo offense has) coming off of shoulder surgery on his throwing shoulder, no other way to put it than a failure by our offensive staff. I said in another post I don’t think an experienced starter candidate was coming here to potentially sit on the bench, but I expected more out of the players the staff has brought in at the position and it just doesn’t seem to be there.

I am seeing a trend that has me increasingly troubled and that is the coaching staff seems to be reconciled to a miserable year that they just have to get through. Last year, with considerably worse talent we saw the team improve over the season. That is not happening this year. Special teams are inconsistent. They can't punt or kick FG's effectively. The play calling does not reflect a philosophy that creatively plays to our strengths and capabilities. The OL is mired in non-performance. The QB situation was a problem before the season that the coaches knew was coming. They knew before us! They saw Irons injuries. They saw Taj was not a thrower. They saw we had no depth. Little was done other than employing hope and hope is not a strategy for success. Joe can solve this. I still support him. It can be turned around. But Joe, I've got a lot of questions for you!

Don't know what a fanboy is, but I think he's our best shot at resurrecting the program. Akron is in a position where the president, AD and head coach are all in alignment. This is typically a winning situation. Akron should have 3 more wins this season and the failures fall on the shoulders of some of the players, and veterans as well. At least Joe put the team in a position to win. He can't kick or throw the ball. My biggest complaint about him is what looks like a failure to have "his guy" on the field playing QB. Maybe the combination doesn't stop at the head coach, but looks something like this President -AD-Coach-QB.

I dont really see how it can get worse. I used to feel bad that this team deserved better fan attendance, etc. Not anymore. I stuck with this team for a long time this year, stood on my box multiple times about how we need to calm the hell down. Not anymore man. These guys are helpless. Starts with Joe "offensive genius" Morehead.

Agreed. Redshirt be damned. Just win, baby.

I don’t believe Wasel was given that opportunity. Could be wrong. I do know Wasel stated he came to Akron because he strongly believed in Moorehead’s offensive philosophy and what he could do within it. He did very well at the 6A HS level on a team with a weaker OL and excels at improvising. That’s evident in his HS film. It’s also evident he’s a competitor that was able to win with mostly mediocre surrounding talent. I’m sure he has a lot still to learn to excel at the D1 level at the same capacity. Not sure why more opportunities for development haven’t been given to these young guys, given the situation. That’s the question. Probably a reason and I’d sure like to hear the answer.

I'd like to see the kids from the area that end up at other similar schools stick around to play at Akron but: 1) there aren't that many of them, 2) often, kids want to spread their wings and go away, and 3) why would a kid want to commit to a program as bad as the Zips' right now?

AMEN!!! So tired of the "local talent" BS spewed here all the time. Take the time like @GP1 did and look at all the rosters for MAC teams, BIG10 teams, Cincy, WVU, Marshall, Dayton, and tell me where our local talent is represented. Through in Pitt too. I did this for the Women's soccer thread, albeit smaller rosters, and you need to face the fact that the "local talent" myth that @dre22era believes in, including hiring the Hoban coach is a fantasy.

Everyone on this board watched Bullock for 7 quarters and came to the same opinion, he is not a division one quarterback. What is he doing in practice to get the confidence of the coaches?

One would think you would be happy with the draw given your earlier post that this was likely to be a loss. Terrible, small field, turf, crappy center ref and an AR who barely did anything except hop along the sideline. I have to say that although I despise scoreless draws, I'm happy with the result given the conditions and shorthanded roster. Hopefully, Mitch Budler's injury was not too serious, and he will be able to return soon. However, I'm totally comfortable with Seth Wilson in goal.

If Akron doesn't win at least 5 games next year, the JoeMo years will begin to crumble. They will lose players and not be able to replace them. They will also begin to lose critical coaches and not fill the spots with anyone as good. Programs foundations are built on more than players. If Wasel was Joe's guy, he should have started the season. Redshirting is an antiquated concept in 2023. I've never seen him play, but he couldn't beat out the 3 bums we have started this year? It's concerning. The Bullock disaster is a good learning lesson for fans. Just because a player transfers from a school you have heard of and was once good, that doesn't mean the player is good. There are lots of failed scholarship players at big schools. The schools the transfer portal benefits the most are the P5 schools, especially the elite programs. It's a place they can dump their trash and replace with a better opportunity. Every once in a while, someone finds something really valuable at the landfill. We have to be smart about what we bring home from the landfill.

Zips were missing 2 very key starters.....Captain and team leader Josef Paulus......and the explosive Malik Henry. The left back part of the defense.....Will Jackson and Ashton Kamdem ..both had outstanding games. Credit to Seth Wilson....for coming thru in a very tough situation. Wet field, tough conditions........Proud of the zips

First time in a while the Zips didn’t dominate most of the game. I can live with this draw, strong effort that would result in 3 points in many nights.

Ashton Kamdem had a very solid first half at left back. It is great that he is getting to play today in front of his Cincinnati area family. With Joey Paulus and Malik Henry both not playing in the first half, Ashton and Stefan have both stepped in admirably. Go, Zips....let's see some of that 2nd half goal scoring.

All you guys bitching on here about the QB play need to put your money where your mouth is. If you want a talented QB, it takes money in this NIL day and age. I'll start a go fund me page to finance it. It should only cost about $150k.

Well I think I’ve got some reading to do:

First off welcome, we need the dues and the new blood so stay active. Secondly, I think your question has been asked by just about every ZNO member who would like to see more of 27.

Again, sort of a newbie here, but any chance we could lean on Lingard a bit more, if we aren’t super behind that is? He’s got a decent YPC but he doesn’t seem to be asked to be that involved. Maybe establish the run to set up the pass if we don’t have as reliable a QB? Or am I way off base?

At 5:20 pm Sunday October 15th, the zips are #12 in RPI Providence win over Georgetown really helped Akron in strength of schedule. Akron strength of schedule was 99 yesterday morning currently, SOS is 64 Providence was 88 in RPI earlier in the week. They are 62 at 5:20 Jared did a good job scheduling tough out of conference opponents...Zips have wins over #7 and #8...and have a tie against #3 The zips are 0.60 behind #11 Duke in the RPI number. Hofstra is 5 spots below Akron in the ranking but Hofstra RPI ranking is only 0.36 behind the zips. I am so glad that the zips are out of the MAC. Western Michigan has a record of 9-1-3. Their current RPI is 50. WMU strength of schedule is 188. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville has a record of 10-0-3. Their current RPI is 55. Their SOS is 201. Rank SOS OSS 1Marshall 12-0-0 .6733 45 3 2UCF 7-1-2 .6470 2 57 3Notre Dame 9-1-3 .6405 4 20 4SMU 9-1-2 .6366 18 8 5Georgetown 8-2-1 .6208 27 1 6Wake Forest 10-1-3 .6091 43 12 7Vermont 9-2-2 .6000 37 85 8FIU 7-2-3 .5999 33 4 9West Virginia 9-0-4 .5990 81 24 10Clemson 8-3-2 .5973 23 14 11Duke 8-3-1 5960 26 17 12Akron 9-0-5 .5900 64 54 13North Carolina 6-2-4 .5894 16 7 14New Hampshire7-1-4 .5890 49 29 15Virginia 7-3-3 .5884 6 39 16Portland 8-3-0 .5874 65 25 17Hofstra 9-2-4 .5864 46 52 18Loyola Marymount6-1-5 .5831 44 34

I have to ask what Arth era games were you watching where there was a lot of talent? Arth wasn’t even building a team that would have been good at DI-AA. If you check the TP threads you will see most of the Arth kids that left ended up going to lower divisions or not playing anymore (or ended up places that weren’t big enough for us to find).

You may be right. I think a couple of things come into play. First, if the kid plays well there is a lot of confidence and he stays. The key is what to do if he doesn't play well. If he's the coach's "guy", the coach needs to publicly support him as the future of the program and live and die with him. Dave Clawson did this with John Wolford. No matter what, he was going to live or die with him. Yesterday he benched a Senior starter at halftime who was badly underperforming. This year will be Clawsons first losing season in a long time. As good as he is, he can't win with a bum at QB. I predict a new face in the program at QB next year. Wake will absorb a couple of losing season for the next Wolford, Newman or Hartman. Akron doesn't have more years of losing.

How negative all of you are. All we have to do is win the next five in a row an voila, bowl eligible. 🤣

“Stubborn” is a great general description…

Might as well. We have 5 games left so I believe our youngsters can play all five and still retain the year of eligibility. EDIT: I posted too soon. Apparently I'm mistaken concerning the 5 games. @catdaddyp just stated it is 4 games & he knows what he's talking about.

We might see that soon, as we are close to being out of bowl contention. Wasel can play up to 4 regular season games and keep a redshirt status. Of course, if he comes in and does well, the redshirt status won’t matter.

Yes, but ultimately these are mostly Moorhead’s guys as they have chased out all but a handful of kids from the Arth era. Moorhead has dug deep into portal for kids with no success, ultimately playing them over talent that was there that I feel could have done better in several positions. Look at all the players that have left the past few years that have gone on to bigger programs and who are playing at their new schools. Position coaches are not doing him any favors either. Ultimately, it’s the coaches responsibility to get these kids prepared and keep the talent he has. Moorhead is just not getting the job done, period end of story. and I do not buy NIL deals and transfer portal as a reason for program failure. Every other team has to work within these boundaries as well.

He’s better than Arth who posted losing records anywhere he was outside of D3 John Carroll. Joe was excellent at Fordham and was 14-12 in the SEC. Coach Joe has been hurt by Recruiter Joe. Not a news flash for ZNO that he needs to find us a QB. You cannot tell me there was anything to build on when Joe arrived. The cupboard was bare. The D (even after NIU) is much improved and with a QB Joe is the best bet to fix this. Tell me who you would hire if you were the AD.

Based on what NIU did to them, can you blame them.

And it took Miami a few years to get out of the dumpster. Martin was awfully close to getting fired.

https://miamiredhawks.com/sports/football/roster This is a roster of one of the top 3 teams in the MAC. They just became eligible for a bowl 7 games into the season. They made a bowl for the 8th time in 9 years. They have some.local players.but don't rely on them. They aren't doing well because they recruit locally. The are doing well because they recruit good players who fit their system.

Good Lord, just a week ago nearly everyone was b!+ch!ng about how bad Irons was and now we're clamoring for him as the guy they could be winning games with. Welcome to Zips football.

I really, truly, believe that it is less about what Bullock is doing in practice and has much more to do with how bad the other options are. If you remember, at the beginning of the season, Moorhead was very open about the fact that Bullock is not ready to play. I think it just got to the point where it seemed like he was the only one who might develop into something useful eventually. It seems like that reality is highly unlikely now as well.

Well, at least they scored in the 2nd half(lol). It seems like we are always posting about how bad the offense is! To me it is beyond disbelief that Moorehead hasn't figured out the situation at QB specifically or the offense generally. IMHO, this has nothing to do with Irons' injury. The offense except for the Indiana mirage hasn't progressed no matter which QB Moorehead picked out of the hat that includes Irons. In fact I think the play calling by the coaches has contributed mightily to putting the QBs in bad positions not to metion hanging the defense out to dry. Moorehead has complicated the situation by going with a QB who was obviuosly physically impaired by injurires. He then couldn't decide on who to play and still hasn't. The passing game is a dumpster fire. And, Moorehead won't consitently use his run game. As I said before, I am worried what happens in the off season with the transfer portal. Some of the more talented kids aren't likely to stick around. And, who is he going to be able to convince to come here given the poor quality of the program for years? Sad.

I kinda got talked into getting on Instagram to see things about my out-of-state grandkids, and I happened to "follow" the FB team there. I get inundated by pictures of all the FB players the days leading up to a game, and they're all "tough guy" poses, and "in-your-face" looks. If they spent more time working on basics, rather than posing for their Instagram account, they might be better off. Nothing like a 1-5 team who loses to the likes of NIU, Buff and CMU posing as FB players then losing again that week. IMHO. Of course, then I get the women's soccer posts as well, and they show the women having all sorts of "funnzie" games and smiley faces, and they've won 2 matches all year. How about winning, then post your winning poses.

I failed to notice that. Thanks for pointing that out.

Arth looking good right now….Moorhead better clue up and find new some new position coaches on offense or he will find himself on the chopping block.

U is the best of bad choices.

He needs to find out quickly if Bullock can play at the D1 level or not. I think the answer is no. I also understand he washed outta VA Tech, please correct me if I'm wrong. Tech is a horrible program right now. If he couldn't get on the field, what made the staff think he could succeed at a high level in the MAC? Akron doesn't have an eternity waiting for someone to develop. There is not a guy on the current roster capable of getting Akron to where it needs to be next year. By that I mean 6 wins minimum. Finding a quality starting QB in the transfer portal must be the #1 priority of the coaching staff this off season.

Well said. Gritty. Been a weird season for the Zips, unlike just about any I can remember. For having the leading goal-scorer in the country, they don’t have a very dynamic attack. BUT, they have out played just about everyone on the entire schedule, and have played well enough to win most if not all of their games. That will sound like criticism to some people on the board, but I’ve been pleased with the team this year, especially after how they ended last year.

I thought the coaches wouldn't let Bullock throw another pass in a game, let alone start a game, after watching Bullock's first pass of the season a few games ago; which was an awkward screen pass thrown 10 yards behind the receiver on a 3rd and 1. At least Undercuffler is the only QB that has won a game against an fbs opponent as a starting QB under Moorehead.

Injury to Budler.

This team sucks!!!!!

Funny enough, this team should be 1-6 except the lone win at Indiana. Or 2-5 with wins over IU and UB. Splitting the tiniest of hairs. You is what you is. 1-6 and heading to BG.

The great thing is, when Groce leaves after this season, he can follow him without having to sit a year. I kid... Sort of... Is the year before a commit arrives on campus too soon to worry about him transferring? Or have I just been a Zips fan for too long?😄 🙃 Seems like a great catch. The reload after our 2024 Sweet 16 run looks to be fun too!

My last thought ... Hope I didn't mislead. I'm not saying the schedule is indicative of 2023-24 expectations. I am saying, with expectations this justifiably high, why not take a couple of shots at an upset. (BTW, to your point, the selection committee will say in March, to somebody but not necessarily the Zips, why didn't you play a 'tougher' schedule instead of 2 non D1s. Effectively measuring what is a very creditable UA schedule by the fact it does not have any P5s on it. Is that right? No Is that reality? Yes.

Allegedly they had a P5 on the schedule and something happened with the tournament, so they had to pivot. It takes 2 to tango, and I'm not real sure too many P5s were looking for a last second add to their schedule to risk a potential upset. My point is I don't think it's right to use the schedule as the barometer for the program's expectations. My biggest gripe are the two non D1 matchups, but ce la vie. The rest will be fun.

And just to be clear, gaining an a-large can be done WITH THIS SCHEDULE. But it means almost exclusively running the non-conference slate (and MAC slate), and then have most of those non-con teams in turn win/contend in their respective leagues. (I think Portage did this the year they were a No. 8 seed). But to me this scenario is much harder to do and is predicated on the ability of multiple other teams to step up as well. IMO, winning 1/2 PC games in non-conference, when you have a quality coach like Groce and a senior-laden team like this one, would be an easier challenge.

Everything you say is true ... except for one thing. The schedule hardly matters WHEN YOU LOSE. But if you play a top end schedule, AND WIN one or two of those top end games, you now stand a legit chance at being an at-large. MAC teams that have put themselves in that position (UB most recently) have won the MAC Tournament, keeping the MAC one-bid. That does not diminish the fact UB was primed to be an at-large, if needed. Again, not saying the schedule is bad. Far from it, and we have seen much worse over the years. Just saying not giving this team A CHANCE to make a splash in non-conference in my mind is a missed opportunity. We're only talking 1/2 games.

I don't think the schedule is a negative reflection of the program's expectations at all. In fact, the schedule says - at least to me - that Groce & co. expect Akron to be a top end mid major. It's a very competitive schedule, even with the fallout from the Mexico tourney we were supposed to be in. PCCC played a difficult schedule last year. That prepared them so well, they were blown out by Indiana in the first round of the tourney. The difference between Akron & PCCC last year was roster experience/talent, not schedule difficulty difference. The MAC is a one-bid league unless one of the teams has 2-3 losses max and loses late in the MAC tourney. Schedule hardly matters.

Definitely marketing spin. Total enrollment up by a whopping 4 students over last year, but number of undergraduates down several hundred. More work to do to effectively communicate UA's value proposition to prospective students.